Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was my biggest surprise of 2010 by a large margin. The previous Lara Croft games haven’t been all that great (I’m being kind, here), so I wasn’t honestly expecting much from a top-down Diablo clone with guns. Once the Great Mustachioed One (also known as Nick) started raving about it, I decided to give it a try. The formula, a mash-up of Resident Evil 5 and Diablo, was a refreshing change from my normal video game fair and it was also a blast to play in co-op.

Since Lara Croft had once again found purchase amongst gamers, many of us began to wonder what was going to happen with the future of the franchise. There were rumors of a reboot of the age-old series flying around, and it seemed like Guardian of Light was meant to tide us over rather than serve as the foundation for a new chapter in the Lara Croft saga. So what do Square Enix and Crystal Dynamic have planned for the heroine?

Although we’ll have to wait for the January issue of Game Informer to get the whole scoop, the basic premise of the new Tomb Raider (which is also the title, incidentally) is that it is a fresh start for Lara Croft which takes us back to her origins as a globe-hopping treasure hunter. To make Lara Croft relevant for the modern age, Crystal Dynamics had to “break her”, basically put her through the wringer in the new game by having her endure “physical and emotional trauma”. While this is uncharted territory for Lara, who is traditionally a Mary Sue superwoman character, this fresh narrative turn may give the series the kick it needs.

I won’t disagree that a complete overhaul of the failing series is needed. Like Duke Nukem, Lara was a product of her time and she hasn’t aged gracefully through the latest generation of consoles, no matter how many pixles developers add to her ass.

While the details are as skimpy right now as some of Lara’s outfits have been, I’m intrigued as to what the upcoming Game Informer will clue us into. Lara’s redesign makes her look like an actual person as opposed to an amalgamation of what is typically considered attractive. It brings her more in line with the “gritty and real” video game protagonists we seem to clamor for these days. Any opinion on the new Tomb Raider? What are you hoping for, or were you just holding out for a Guardian of Light sequel?

Well, I just like how much of an icon “Tomb Raider” was for Playstation, even though the games were never really great. How about a Revamped Crash Bandicoot instead? Maybe with Square Enix running things she’ll end up looking more like a boy, with a really really long gun-sword.